NBA Tuesday Roundup: Offseason Changes Paying Dividends for Atlanta Hawks

November 8th, 2016 by Adam Fromal Leave a reply »

If the Atlanta Hawks are to prove doubters wrong and continue asserting themselves as fringe Eastern Conference contenders—after the departures of Jeff Teague and Al Horford—they need to have gambled correctly on the biggest offseason moves. Tuesday night, they looked like they'd done exactly that during a 110-106 victory over the previously undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers. 

Dwight Howard is the biggest piece of the new puzzle, bringing a changed identity on both ends as he fills up the paint.

Whereas Horford was the offensive hub who could contribute in every way imaginable and serve as a secondary playmaker, Howard is a roll threat who does virtually all of his damage around the basket. Defensively, he's not as mobile as the man he replaces, but his rim protection gives the Hawks a bona fide interior anchor. 

Howard didn't do much on offense against the Cavaliers, recording just seven points on five shots. But he made a massive impact defensively and on the glass by pulling down 17 rebounds and tallying three rejections. His mere presence as a weak-side shot-blocker altered Cleveland's schemes a ...

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